Biggest Winners, Loser From UFC San Antonio

UFC San Antonio went down last night (Sat., March 25, 2023) inside AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, featuring a Bantamweight main event between Cory Sandhagen and Marlon Vera. After 25 minutes of action, “The Sandman” out-worked “Chito” to earn the split decision win (full highlights). In the co-headlining bout, Holly Holm defeated Yana Santos via unanimous decision (recap).

Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Biggest Winner: Cory Sandhagen

Just a few weeks ago, Merab Dvalishvili put his name in the championship chase after picking up a rather convincing win over Petr Yan. And now Sandhagen has done the same after his own impressive and dominant victory over Vera, who is currently ranked No. 3. That is now two big consecutive wins for “The Sandman,” who has once again found his groove following back-to-back losses against T.J. Dillashaw and Petr Yan. Most were expecting Vera to shoot close to the top of the title hunt with a win, and while that won’t happen for Sandhagen, he could be one more big win away from getting there. And he thinks taking on and defeating Dvalishvili is the ticket to get there.

Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Runner Up: C.J. Vergara

From running for his life early in the fight to scoring a come-from-behind win the round two, Vergara had quite an interesting match. The four-fight UFC veteran caught flack for getting on his bike to take a stroll around the Octagon in an effort to avoid Daniel Da Silva’s attack, but he ultimately avoided the Brazilian bomber’s aggression and scored a second round technical knockout. Not to mention it also banked him a $50,000 post-fight bonus for his sizzling performance.

Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Biggest Loser (s): Marlon Vera and Daniel Lacerda

This was Vera’s best chance to possibly get into a title fight. Instead, he didn’t pop off with his offense as we have been accustomed to, which ultimately cost him the fight and a ticket to the big dance. He sees his-four fight win streak and title fight hopes go out the window with the costly setback. While he won’t drop too far down in the rankings, his first defeat in nearly three years sucks a lot of steam out of his momentum, which means taking any reasonable fight thrown his way next might be the best course of action if he wants to stay in the mix. As for Lacerda, he came into the event winless (0-3) in his first three tries inside the Octagon, but now that he has suffered his fourth straight loss, don’t be too surprised if he ends up on the chopping block soon. He did score a $50,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus for his efforts in his defeat, but the woes simply can not be ignored.

---

For complete UFC San Antonio: “Vera vs. Sandhagen” results and play-by-play, click HERE.